


Ride the Waves

by its_me_that_writes



Series: Klance Positivity Week 2019 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU of choice, M/M, Mer!Lance, MerMay, Surfer!Keith, lance is confused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-03-17 08:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18961513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_me_that_writes/pseuds/its_me_that_writes
Summary: Lance loves to watch the wave riders, but he's never interacted with one until now.





	1. Lance

Lance loves to watch the wave riders.

His family tells him not to. The land people are dangerous. All mer-people know what can happen if you venture too close to land.

But Lance can’t help himself.

The wave riders are so graceful.

And when they’re not graceful, they’re great entertainment.

They remind Lance a bit of dolphins, skimming the waves for the rush. They look like a colorful school of fish, though, with their brightly colored floating fins. It’s like watching moving art, mesmerizing.

There is one wave rider in particular that Lance likes to watch. He rarely falls on smooth days, but he also comes out on days when the sea is rough. Lance never fails to enjoy himself when this wave rider is in the water.

Lance sees him out today, even though the waves are too rough for most. His dark hair is plastered to his face and his bright red and orange fin glides through the water swiftly.

His floating fin is one of Lance’s favorites. The colors are so vibrant, and the lines look like the fins on a fancy fish. It’s beautiful against the crystal blue of the ocean.

A swell breaks over the wave rider particularly hard.

Lance sees the moment it happens: he’s ripped away from his floating fin.

It’s not the first time this has happened. Lance snickers a bit. Maybe today will be full of entertainment.

Lance waits for the wave rider to find his way back to his floating fin, but the sea seems to be pushing them apart.

The wave rider keeps looking around for it, but can’t seem to find it. He keeps getting pushed further out to open water with each rolling wave. The ocean is in quite a mood today.

Lance hesitates. He could help the wave rider, reunite him with his fin. The land people can’t navigate the sea the way the merfolk can. His family’s warnings echo in his head.

The wave rider keeps getting pulled further out, his head dipping under the waves more frequently.

Lance decides. He’s never been one to watch a helpless creature die.

His tail carries him swiftly to the struggling man. Lance grips him under his arms and tugs him through the water toward his colorful fin, careful to keep his head above the waves.

They reach the wave rider’s fin and Lance realizes that it’s hard, not like an actual fin at all.

Lance takes a look at the man, the first good look he’s ever had the chance to take. He’s beautiful. His skin is light, like the softest sand, and it almost seems to glow, like the surf when the sun hits it.

The man opens his eyes then and Lance is stunned. His eyes are unlike any he’s ever seen. They’re gorgeous. Like the night sky on a cloudless night, the kind that Lance loves to spend hours gazing at.

It’s then that the man notices him and looks over.

He’s staring at Lance, eyes wide.

His mouth flaps like a fish that’s been out of the water for too long, and it confuses Lance. The land people can’t breathe underwater. He shouldn’t be having trouble breathing right now.

Lance studies him carefully.

“Holy shit,” the man whispers.

Lance smiles. “You _are_ okay.”

“Holy shit, you’re a mermaid.”

Lance makes a face. “I’m a mer _man_.”

“Holy shit.”

“ _Are_ you okay?” Lance is starting to wonder again.

“I thought the merfolk were a myth.”

Lance frowns.

“Can you make it back to land now that you have your fin?”

“My fin?” The wave rider looks confused.

Lance pats the fin that the man is clutching.

“You mean my surfboard?”

_Surfboard._ Lance tilts his head.

The wave rider looks around, they’ve drifted far from the shore, and shakes his head.

“Hold on to your fin,” Lance instructs and the man does as he’s told.

Lance begins to gently guide them back toward the shore.

“What is your name, land dweller?” He asks as they move.

“Keith. What’s yours?”

“Lance. What fish did you color your fin to look like?”

“Fish? It’s fire,” the wave rider, Keith, says.

“What’s fire?”

Keith’s mouth flops again. Lance stops swimming, they aren’t at the shore yet, but this is as far as Lance is willing to go.

“Can you make it from here?” Lance asks.

“I think so,” Keith says as he looks toward the shore. He makes no move, though. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I enjoy watching you, I couldn’t just let you die.”

Keith seems surprised by that.

“You watch me surf?”

Lance nods. “You are a very graceful wave rider.”

“I’ve never noticed you before.”

“The land people are not always kind to my people,” Lance says with a frown. “I never come close enough to be seen.”

Keith looks sad.

“Will I ever see you again?” he asks.

Lance scans the shore.

“I’m not sure. You would have to venture far from the shore,” he tells Keith. He wouldn’t mind seeing this wave rider again, but he doesn’t think it’s likely.

Keith nods.

“I should get back to land,” he says. “I’ll look for you the next time I’m out.”

Lance smiles, but he knows better than to hope for something so silly.

He watches the beautiful wave rider until he’s all the way back to shore, and then he swims home.

 

— — —

 

Lance is swimming to his usual watching spot.

It’s been almost two weeks since he’s been out to watch the wave riders, but he finally has the chance to go, so he does.

As he is nearing his usual spot he sees a flash of red above him. He tilts his head to look at it, a spark of excitement in his heart.

There, above him, is that vibrant red fin. _Fire_ , Keith had called it.

Lance can hardly believe it. He’s so far from shore. Keith came to find him.

He can see Keith scanning the water below the surface, and notices the moment that Keith sees him because he almost falls in.

Lance laughs and swims to the surface, popping up next to the floating fin.

“I found you!” Keith exclaims. “I’ve been swimming out here almost every day for two weeks!”

Lance can’t contain his smile. Keith had searched for him.

Maybe it wasn’t so silly to hope after all.


	2. Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this second chapter for Klance Positivity Week 2019: rivals/partners day.

There he is!

Finally!

Keith had been starting to wonder if he would ever see his miracle merman again. It’s been two weeks since his life was miraculously saved. Two weeks since he first saw Lance, a beautiful blue merman, and his world was changed forever. The merfolk were real, he had met one.

“I can’t believe I found you,” Keith says again. Lance is still beaming at him.

“I can’t believe you actually looked,” he responds.

Keith had pushed out further and further in his search each time he was in the water. Even though he started to wonder if he would ever actually find Lance, he knew he wouldn’t stop trying.

“I brought something for you,” he tells Lance.

Lance’s eyes are bright and curious. He has the most mesmerizing, breathtakingly beautiful blue eyes that Keith has ever seen. Keith smiles at him and pulls a sandwich bag out of his pocket; a bag that he’s been carrying with him every time he comes out into the water since the day they met.

“What is it?” Lance says grabbing for the small plastic bag. Keith holds the bag out of reach.

“It will be fire,” Keith chuckles, opening the bag and pulling out a small box of matches.

Carefully, Keith opens the box and pulls out a match. He drags the match quickly along the rough side of the matchbox, and the flame bursts into life.

Lance’s eyes are huge. He looks between the flame and Keith’s surfboard, clearly trying to see the resemblance. Keith chuckles again.

Lance reaches out for the flame, but his wet hands extinguish it immediately. His face contorts into a confused frown and Keith laughs.

“It can’t get wet,” Keith explains, pulling out another match and lighting it. He holds this one closer for Lance to see.

Lance inspects it closely. The fascination on his face and the curiosity in his eyes makes Keith smile.

“I still think your fin looks more like a fish,” Lance says decisively and looks up at Keith.

Keith arches an eyebrow and shakes the match with his hand to put out the flame. He places everything back in the sandwich bag and returns it to his pocket. Lance is now inspecting his board and running his hands along the smooth surface. He grips the edge of the board and squeezes it. Then he lifts and tips it with surprising ease. Keith leans forward, laughing, to keep himself from pitching into the water.

“Sorry,” Lance says, looking a bit sheepish and putting the board back down. “What is your fin made from?”

Keith smiles at Lance still calling his surfboard a ‘fin.’

“It’s made from…” Lance probably wouldn’t understand what all the man-made materials are, “well, from fancy plastic. Sort of.”

Lance frowns, staring at the board. Maybe Keith will need to explain more than he thought he would.

“Hmm. Plastic is…”

“I know what plastic is,” Lance interrupts, his voice hard.

“Oh.”

Lance’s eyes study him for a moment. His gaze runs over Keith’s face before flicking to the pocket where Keith put the bag of matches.

“Are you going to ride the waves today?” Lance asks suddenly, his voice softer.

Keith is grateful for the change of subject. Trying to explain or apologize for his people’s pollution habits is more than he’s willing to take on at the moment. Keith makes a mental note to get more involved in recycling programs and be more active in Clean Earth projects.

“Maybe.” Keith responds.

He loves surfing, even when the waters are unfriendly, but he wants to get to know Lance - an actual merman. Their first meeting has haunted his thoughts and dreams for two weeks. It makes Keith reluctant to leave.

Lance tilts his head in question. His brown hair is starting to dry from being above the water. There are iridescent blue scales that travel up his neck and along his hairline to his forehead; they shimmer and shine in the sunlight. Keith’s breath catches at how beautiful he is.

“I finally found you again. I don’t want to lose track of you so soon,” Keith says, answering Lance’s unspoken question.

Lance beams at him. His smile is so radiant it almost hurts to look at.

“Come on, then. I’ll take you somewhere that you can ride the waves and I can stay close.”

Keith smiles and Lance starts to push his surfboard, trailing the coast at a safe distance.

They don’t go very far. Lance takes him to a secluded stretch of beach. The shoreline is rocky here with only a few patches of white sand. Keith had no idea this area was even here. It doesn’t look like it can be accessed easily, if at all, from land.

“The waves here are just as good, but no wave riders come here. I don’t think they know about it,” Lance tells Keith as they come to a stop. “I come here to lay in the sun sometimes.”

“You like to lay in the sun?” It seems so funny to Keith, so pedestrian, like it’s something that merfolk just wouldn’t do.

“Of course. I like the feel of the dry sand, and the waves brushing against my tail.”

Keith just smiles at him.

— — —

They come to this secluded spot every time they meet. After the first few times, Keith found a way to reach their beach on his own. It isn’t easy, he has to climb a few rocks, but he makes it work. He’s even started to leave his surfboard in a hidden nook along the beach to make getting here easier.

It’s better than risking Lance’s safety. Keith still vividly remembers how serious and sad Lance’s face had looked when he mentioned how people have treated the merfolk in the past. Keith can only imagine what kind of horrors might cause them to stay away for so long that they’ve become a myth. He never wants to put Lance in that kind of danger.

That’s why Keith loves coming to this stretch of beach. Lance is right: the waves here are just as good as the place he frequented before, and even better is that no one else is ever here. Which means that Lance can stay close and watch Keith surf without risking his safety. Sometimes he’ll even swim alongside Keith in the waves.

It’s exhilarating and exciting. Each time they meet is a new adventure.

He spends every possible day with Lance, and they keep learning new things about each other. Lance tells him about the merfolk and life in the ocean; and Keith keeps learning about all the things that Lance has never experienced. And Lance asks so many questions. When they first met Keith hadn’t realized how different life was for Lance. It made sense that he wouldn’t know what fire was, but it’s all the other things that keep surprising Keith. He’s made the decision to introduce Lance to every new thing that he can.

Keith is hauling his surfboard out of its hiding spot when he hears a splash behind him. He glances over his shoulder and catches a glimpse of Lances tail. Keith’s never been able to get a good look at it, but he knows it’s blue.

He smiles as he carries his surfboard to the water. He’s brought something with him today that he thinks Lance is really going to like. Lance’s head pops above the surface as Keith wades into the shallows.

Keith climbs onto his surfboard and and paddles out to him.

“I brought something for you,” he says when he’s close enough.

Lance tilts his head and swims up to drape his arms over the front of the surfboard. He looks expectantly at Keith.

“What is it?”

Keith swings the knapsack off his back and pulls out the plastic bag full of pastries.

“Donuts.”

“This is what you eat with your brother? The sweet food made of… bread?” Lance asks as he peers curiously at the bag.

“Yep, but you’re going to have to wait until your hands are dry to try one.” Keith points out.

Lance holds his hands up in front of himself and frowns. He starts waving them around in the air and Keith laughs.

When Lance has deemed his hands to be sufficiently dry he makes a grabbing motion at the bag.

Keith opens it and points out the different kinds before pulling one out.

“This one is a classic glazed, this one is filled with jelly… that’s made from fruit, and this one is chocolate.”

Lance eyes the choices carefully before giving Keith a helpless look.

“You choose,” he says.

Keith reaches in and pulls out the jelly filled one.

“You might as well go big for your first donut,” he tells Lance and hands him the sugary confection.

Lance’s eyes grow large at the first bite. The jelly is all over his face by the time he’s finished eating and Keith can’t contain his laughter at the sight.

“What did you think?” Keith asks as Lance cleans off his face.

“I’ve never had anything like it.” Lance admits. “I’ve seen all kinds of land treasures, but nothing like that.”

“What do you mean ‘land treasures’?”

“The stuff the land people leave on their floating land when it no longer floats.” Lance shrugs.

Keith has to think for a moment.

“Do you mean ships? Sunken ships?” he asks.

“I don’t know what you call them.”

“What sort of things do you find on these ships?” Keith’s always been fascinated by what might be found on shipwrecks.

“All kinds of strange and shiny things, but nothing that I would ever try to eat.”

“You’ll have to show me some of those things sometime,” Keith says. He glances out to the waves that are rolling in. They look ideal for surfing. “Are you going to ride the waves with me today?”

“Of course.” Lance smiles at Keith.

Keith smiles back. He’s really glad he met Lance, his miracle merman, his new friend and surfing partner. He couldn’t have asked for a better partner to ride the waves with.

As Keith stands on his surfboard and catches a glimpse of Lance’s blue tail in the wave beside him, he can’t help but think that they have a very bright and fun future ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Heads up, I might (read:probably will) turn this into a snippet fic!


	3. Lance

“How did you learn to ride on the waves?” Lance asks.

“My brother taught me,” Keith says. He’s staring up at the clouds that pass overhead.

It’s a beautiful, bright day. Lance is watching Keith as he lays out on his floating fin. It’s bobbing up and down on the surface of water, Keith’s body rising and falling with it. The drops of ocean that cling to his skin make him shimmer and Lance is trying to stop himself from staring.

“Your brother is a wave rider?” Lance asks as he moves to mimic Keith’s position. It’s easier not to stare at Keith’s sand-colored curves when he’s staring up at the sky instead.

“He used to be. He still surfs sometimes, but he runs a surfboard rental shop now,” Keith replies.

Lance turns his head to look at Keith. His dark hair curls and flows over his forehead and the ends dip into the water. It reminds Lance of octopus ink. It’s almost the same color and the way it falls resembles the tendrils of an ink cloud.

“An octopus once sprayed me in the face,” Lance shares.

Keith turns to look at him, eyes questioning, curious about the sudden change of subject. Lance is caught in that midnight gaze.

“Like with it’s ink?” Keith asks.

“Yeah.” Lance scrunches his face in embarrassment and turns back to the clouds. “It took a whole week for the color to leave my skin.”

“Ok. Now I have to know the whole story.” Keith insists with a chuckle.

Lance smiles. He loves it when Keith asks about his life.

“I was trying to play a prank on my sister. I had tricked the octopus into my bag earlier in the day and I was going to ask her to grab something out of it. The idea was that she’d open the bag and the octopus would spray her…”

“But it sprayed you instead?” Keith asks. Lance winces and looks over at him.

“Well, I asked her to get my reflection glass out of my bag for me, but she threw the whole bag in my direction instead. It was coming right at my face and I managed to catch it before it hit me, but flap fell open and... octopus ink.” Lance draws his shoulders up in a slow shrug. Keith’s eyes squeeze shut as he laughs.

His laugh is the most beautiful thing Lance has ever heard. There’s nothing he can even compare it to, but it fills his heart to the brim. Lance feels his cheeks grow warm with blush.

His family thinks he’s crazy for coming out here all the time, but he can’t resist. He won’t miss a day with Keith if he can help it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Keith seems to feel the same way.

Lance finds his eyes constantly drawn to Keith, to his beautiful face and body, and the way he moves in the water. Maybe it’s Lance’s imagination, but it seems like Keith is always watching him too, like he also can’t keep his eyes away.

Is it possible to have feelings for a land dweller? Could this incredible land dweller ever have feelings for him?

Despite all his questions, Lance thinks he might be falling. He hopes Keith is falling, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you have any ideas or suggestions for things you'd like to see (adventures, things they could show each other from their separate worlds, stories they could share, etc) feel free to comment with them!


	4. Keith

Keith climbs over the last boulder, making his way to their meeting place when he catches sight of Lance. He’s laying out on some of the only soft sand along this part of the shore. He’s so beautiful. 

Keith pauses for a moment and just observes him, not wanting to disturb Lance from his sunbathing. His eyes are closed and his face is turned toward the warmth. His brown hair has fully dried and Keith notices that it’s slightly curly. He has one arm propped beneath his head and the other drapes across his tan chest. Lance is surprisingly tan for someone who lives their life mostly underwater. The planes of his chest are smooth and his muscles are defined, but not exaggerated.

With him stretched out on the beach like this, Keith can see that those iridescent blue scales travel all along the sides of his torso. It makes him enticing, and Keith suddenly has the urge to know what they feel like under his fingertips.

Keith’s eyes trail to the incredible expanse of Lance’s tail. It’s blue, but the scales that cover it are in every variation and shade of the color, making it a work of art. Lance still has the end of his tail close to the water, where the surf that washes ashore can brush against it. Keith smiles.

He’s only caught glimpses of the end of Lance’s tail before. Now he can actually study it. Lance’s whole tail is beautiful and strong, but where it splits into fins is mesmerizing. Strong muscle frames the outer edges where the fins meet the rest of his tail. The fins themselves seem to be the same iridescent blue color that adorns Lance’s upper body. Their color makes him wonder if he could see his hand through them.

Keith hears a light chuckle and looks up at Lance’s face. His eyes are open and he’s looking directly at Keith with amusement. Keith hadn’t even noticed that he had moved closer when inspecting Lance’s tail, but Lance must have. Keith feels his cheeks heat.

Cold droplets of water hit Keith’s face as Lance flicks his tail.

“Hey!” Keith protests, shying away with a smile. Lance laughs loudly.

“It took you longer to get here today,” Lance comments once his laughter dies down.

“I brought something for you,” Keith explains.

That was why he was late. He had stopped by the market and bought something special to share with Lance.

“What is it?” Lance’s eyes spark with interest and he pushes himself up on his arms to look curiously at Keith.

Keith smiles and pulls a bag full of colorful treats from his pocket.

“Candy.”

Keith sits down next to Lance and opens the bag. After a moment of inspecting the contents, he pulls out a piece of taffy and hands it to Lance.

“This is taffy. It’s my favorite. Take the wrapper off before you eat it.”

Lance inspects the round ball of sugar in his hands for a moment before peeling off the wax paper wrapping and popping it into his mouth. His eyes grow large and he looks at Keith with a puzzled expression.

“What do you think?” Keith asks as Lance chews.

“I don’t know.” Lance seems to be struggling with the chewy-ness of the taffy. Keith chuckles.

“It’s root beer flavored.”

“What’s root beer?” Lance asks.

“Oh boy. It’s a drink. Soda. I’ll bring you one tomorrow.”

Lance smiles at him, curiosity lighting up his dazzling blue eyes.

They eat a few more different candies and watch the waves roll in. The sun is high in the sky and soft puffy clouds are floating overhead. Keith sighs and flops back onto the sand.

“My brother wants me to get a job,” Keith says, breaking the comfortable silence. Lance turns his head and smiles.

“I have a job,” he says.

“You do?”

“Yeah. I do salvage on the sunken floating-lands.”

“Ships, Lance,” Keith chuckles. “We call them ships.”

“Right, ships,” Lance smiles. “It’s a great job. I work every few days and get to keep some of the things I find.”

“Really?”

Lance shrugs. “That reminds me: I brought something for you, too.” He reaches behind himself for a small green bag that Keith hadn’t noticed until now.

He turns back around and places the bag in his lap. It looks like it’s made of woven seaweed. Lance pulls back the flap and Keith catches sight of something gold.

“I found a bunch of these on one of the… ships. You said you wanted to see something from one, so I brought you this.”

Lance slides the golden object from the bag and holds it out to Keith. Keith’s breath catches in his throat and he can hardly believe his eyes. It’s a golden block of metal, stamped with an official seal.

Lance brought him a gold bar, an actual gold bar. It’s smooth and solid in Keith’s hands. It must weigh at least five pounds.

“Lance, this… you can’t give me this.” Lance tilts his head to the side and looks at Keith with confusion.

“Do you not like it?” he asks.

“No, I do! But Lance, this is….” Keith looks at the growing confusion on Lance’s face. “This doesn’t mean anything to you does it?”

Lance shakes his head. “No, why? Is it special?” He gasps suddenly and his face flushes. “Is it something land people use to bond? Oh! Keith, I didn’t know! I wasn’t trying to-”

“What? Lance, no! It’s alright. It’s not like that. It’s just… very valuable. Much more valuable than any of the stuff I’ve brought you.”

Lance studies the gold bar. “What do you do with it?”

“We use it to buy things; or we used to. We call it gold. You can still sell gold for money, though; a lot of money.”

“What’s money?”

“It’s… it’s what we use to get things, like food or... items,” Keith explains.

He stares down at the bar in his hands. This much gold could change so many things for him and Shiro. He might not have to get a job for a while, which would mean more time with Lance.

“Well, you can keep it, I brought it for you to keep anyway,” Lance says with a shrug.

“Are you sure?” Keith asks. He’s still caught in shock and disbelief.

“Yes. We don’t use that for anything, except maybe to weigh things down. We trade for all our stuff.”

Keith smiles and holds the gold bar close. “Thank you.”

Meeting Lance has changed so many things. Keith can hardly remember what his life was like without him. 

“What will you do with it?” Lance asks.

“I’m not sure. I kinda want to keep it… but I also want to use it to pay off my brother’s shop.”

Lance smiles widely. “I’ll bring you another one, then. That way you can do both.”

“Lance!” Keith sputters and his eyes grow wide in shock. “Another one!”

“What? Should I bring two more?”

“Lance!” Keith laughs. Lance is smiling so big it lights up his whole face. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with you if I got a job, but if you keep bringing me gold I won’t need one.”

“Then I’ll bring you all the gold I can find.”

Keith can’t help the blush that makes its way onto his cheeks and down his neck.

“Come on,” he says, taking Lance’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “Let’s go ride some waves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I will probably continue this for the 'partners' prompt.


End file.
